Saturday, September 24, 2011

While Sade has been coy about the inspiration for this song - describing the dancers, for instance, as representations of her emotions, I think I know what's going on in this video and in this song - it's a story about a chess game of love.

In addition to the eight pawns, a white horse is featured and Sade is shown in many clips with a lasso, evidently an allusion to her attempting to capture the "horse." In one brief clip she is seen in a silver outfit riding the horse, but after that second does not appear on the "horse" again. Is the horse meant to represent "Love?" The White Horse, of course, is well known in symbolism. The color white (of the horse) and the silver outfit Sade wears in the scenes where she is shown riding the horse or with the lasso are suggestive of the Moon. What do you think?

Count them: Eight pawns and One Queen...

From Wikipedia:

"Soldier of Love" is a single from the English recording group Sade. It premiered worldwide on December 8, 2009, and it was released on iTunes digitally on January 12, 2010. It is also the band's first new material in almost ten years, preceding their long awaited sixth studio album of the same name which was released worldwide on February 8, 2010. The song was #1 on the Billboard Adult R&B.[1] The song debuted at #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the band's highest debut on the chart.[2] It has peaked at #52, making it the band's highest-peaking single on that chart since 1992's "No Ordinary Love".
The track won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 53rd Grammy Awards ceremony.

This is just a short article but it made me go "hmmmm...." See for yourself. Frankly, darlings, I don't think these drawings are representing "bricks." Roads to - somewhere - maybe. Remember "follow the Yellow Brick Road, follow the Yellow Brick Road..." Or maps...

Bible and archaeology news

Archaeologists excavating the important Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk* in central Turkey’s Konya Plain have uncovered an elaborate 9,000-year-old wall painting depicting an enigmatic arrangement of brightly-colored geometric shapes. “[The painting] is by far the most intricate and elaborate painting we have found during our excavations here since the mid-90s,” said British archaeologist Ian Hodder of Stanford University who directs the project. “We’ve been waiting quite a long time for something so elaborate.” Hodder remains puzzled over what the painting depicts, although he says it could be a representation of bricks used to form some sort of stylized structure.

Archaeologists excavating the important Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk in central Turkey’s Konya Plain have uncovered an elaborate 9,000-year-old wall painting depicting an enigmatic arrangement of brightly-colored geometric shapes.

“An interesting aspect of some of the paintings at Catal,” Dr. Hodder said, “is that they are very enigmatic and full of ambiguity and difficult to read.

“But the two main contenders for what this new discovery might show are that it’s simply a geometric design whose meaning is not clear,” he said. “An alternative is that it’s not just a geometric design, but that it is a representation of bricks, some sort of structure,” maybe an early blueprint of some sort.
Houses were “a very important symbol socially and a focus of life at Catal,” he said. “Maybe they were trying to draw the relationship between them and the house but it’s not easy to make sense of it. We have to do more work on it.”
Catalhoyuk — where people occupied mud-brick houses from about 7400 B.C. to about 6000 B.C. — is 60 kilometers, or 37 miles, southeast of Konya in central Turkey. The area is dotted with gently rising mounds that obscure the ancient roots of urbanization and draw archaeologists from around the world.
. . .

“One sort of pattern that we noticed is that the paintings seem to be concentrated around burial platforms,” Dr. Hodder said. “We don’t really understand what that relationship is. Is it a way to communicate with the dead? Another idea would be that the paintings are there to protect people from the dead, or to protect the dead from people.”
. . .

Over more than 1,400 years, as many as 16 layers of housing were formed, each serving as many as 8,000 people. Dr. Hodder’s team has dug through all 16 layers to reach a lake bed from the Pleistocene era.
. . .

The terrain should be ripe for discoveries in the years to come. “We’ve only excavated 4 percent of Catal,” Dr. Hodder said. “What we’ve done is like digging a very small part of New York and then inferring from that what life was like.”

Part of Linden Avenue collapsed from the storm and neighbors of a beach there found what they believed were human bones protruding from the embankment that the storm eroded and called Branford police.

Those bones, experts have determined, likely came from an ancient Native American burial site.

Police responded to the eroded area on August 29 and brought the bones to the Connecticut State Medical Examiner�s Office, who determined the bones were human, and possibly of Native American origin.

"They were femurs, some rib bones, parts of the pelvis," said Running Fox, a member of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council.

He said the unearthed bones were remains of two members of the Totoket Quinnipiac Tribe.

Over the years, ancient arrowheads and stone tools have been found in Branford.

Over the last few weeks, Branford Police and the town�s engineer, Janice Plaziak, have worked closely with archaeologists and members of the Native American Heritage Advisory Council to maintain the integrity and security of the site until a proper method of returning the area back to its pre-storm condition could be determined.

"Our major concern during these preceding weeks was to maintain the honor and respect of those Native Americans who may have been laid to rest in this area and work closely with their ancestors to maintain the dignity they deserve," Police Chief Kevin Halloran said.

A special burial ceremony was held Thursday to return the remains to their rightful place.

"It gives us an opportunity to thank the creator and ask him to watch over them so they will never be disturbed again," Fox said.

Bhubaneswar: At the end of 10th round of 4th Mayor’s Cup International Chess Tournament organised by Venus Chess Academy at Goregaon Sports Club in Mumbai, Aleksandrov Aleksej (ELO 2618) of Belarus is leading with nine points followed by Ukrainian GM Kravtsiv Martyn with eight points and third place shared by eight players with 7.5 points.

Earlier, in the seventh and eighth round Rout defeated Indian GM Laxman RR and shared points with Bangladesh GM Murshed Niaz and bagged her first IM norms.

From 12th Women's World Chess Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk's blog, I found this great article on a simul held by eleven-year old WFM Danitza F. Vázquez of Puerto Rico! It's a wonderful story and there are lots of photographs, please check it out!

Report at Chessdom. We know (from article above) that Padmini Rout scored an important IM norm. In addition, WIM Bhagyashri Thipsay made her maiden WGM norm! Yippee! I believe this was an 11-round tournament.

I've tried to pick out the chess femmes (but I'm not too good with Indian names, and I apologize in advance for any omitted players or any males that I may have added to the list by mistake -- I just do not have the time to check each individual's name on the FIDE list) from the final standings:

Hooray! I'm very happy to see that this chess cafe cum art gallery is getting the recognition it deserves! The recent simul held by WGM Alina L'Ami, who won the title Women's Champion of Montreal during the 2011 Montreal Open Championships, is also mentioned.

I was first introduced to Cafe Pi in December, 2001 by Mr. Don after we arrived back in Montreal from the Initiativ Gruppe Konigstein meeting of chess historians in Amsterdam. I had a few days layover in Montreal before coming back home, and one of the places Don and I went was to Cafe Pi, which he had discovered a short time before himself. When I last visited Montreal (June, 2003), we once again visited Cafe Pi. Both times we played a couple games of chess and had coffees.

The serious players all bunch up toward the windows and front door overlooking the busy street outside. I remember from my June, 2003 visit the windows were rolled back so that the space was wide open. The cigarette smoke rolls out those opened windows thick and heavy! Passersby on the street can stop and look in for a bit and watch the action. There are always kibbitzers at those front tables, but there are some at the back tables too. Mr. Don and I sat toward the back of the long, narrow space, where doors for the restrooms are located and a back door, open and beckoning people into the darkness of the back yard -- I always have wondered what the heck is out there??? During one visit in 2003 we attracted a kibbitzer of our own and had a great time talking with him -- not exactly conducive to playing good chess but who am I kidding? I'm no player but I have dreams about becoming world champion (not kidding, I really do dream about that).

One thing - I haven't been there since they painted the walls that bright red! When I was last there, the walls were white. I don't know I could stand the red for too long - I'm aggressive enough as it is, darlings, thank you very much!

Montreal has a long history of chess cafés, but none of them ever managed to stay in business for very long. So when Arpad Kiss decided to name his new café after the most famous constant in mathematics, he had no idea that it would live up to its name and become such a fixture within the community.

Kiss noted that he came up with the idea for "Pi" because "it is a mathematical symbol and chess is a logical game. Pi is also an irrational number so it's mysterious and inconclusive. It combines logic and art."

Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, Café Pi is more popular than ever and remains one of the most unique destinations on The Main.

From the moment you walk in the door it's evident that this is no ordinary coffee shop. Countless chessboards sit on the surface of practically every table, the squares occupied by black and white pieces that seem as if they can hardly wait for two people to sit down and take them to war. Near the back, men (the clientele is mostly male) sit alone, quietly studying strategy books or solving intricate chess problems. From out of nowhere onlookers gather around particularly intense battles and then disperse just as quickly to get back to their own games.

Kiss attributes the success of Café Pi to a combination of three things, "Apart from being a place where people can come and play chess, we're also an art gallery and a fair trade-coffee shop" he said.
Indeed, local artwork covers practically every wall. A different artist is featured every month and the café does not charge a commission on any sales.

"It's nice to help artists get a start on their careers," said Vanessa Kiss, the café's artistic director, as she spoke to local photographer Stephane Fauliau near the front window.

"I was asking some friends where I could exhibit my work and they recommended this place," said Fauliau. "I called this morning and Vanessa told me to just drop by. They make the whole process very easy," he added.

Meanwhile, Jean-François Martinez sat alone at a table near the centre of the café engrossed in a popular chess magazine. "I come two or three times a week," he said, "mostly to play Blitz."

In Blitz games, each player has only five minutes to make all of his or her moves. Café Pi is well know for its Blitz tournaments, which are held on the first Sunday of every month.

The café also sponsors events alongside famous chess players. For example, on Sept. 6, Romanian grandmaster Alina L'Ami was on hand to conduct a simultaneous exhibition, i.e. she played multiple games at the same time.

Both the Blitz tournaments and the simultaneous exhibitions are extremely popular. "It's proof that there's a market for a chess café. There are enough people playing chess in Montreal to make these events possible," said Kiss

You don't need to be an expert to play in any of the tournaments, and even if you're a beginner, it's easy to just walk through the doors and strike up a random game.Café Pi's website emphasizes that chess is, "one of the few games in which luck is not a factor - and neither is race, religion, age, and social class. In an individualistic world where the loneliness of people is becoming more widespread, chess brings individuals closer together."

Acutely aware that many people choose to play the game on a computer rather than face to face, Kiss takes the unifying role of chess very seriously. According to Kiss, the whole experience of playing chess is equally as important as what's happening on the board. "You have the touch, you have the feeling, and you have the emotion of the person sitting across from you that you can never have when you sit in front of a computer screen. Computers take the romance out of chess," he explained. A customer sitting at the next table promptly concurred. "Chess," he said, "C'est un amour."

This has absolutely nothing to do with chess, except in a tangental way. Years ago, when we all had a lot more energy, with some help from Mr. Don I put together a chess spoof called The International Chessoid. It still makes me chuckle when I think of it. Unfortunately I deleted it all when I junked my very first computer - a Gateway desktop - more than 10 years ago. I was able to locate some stuff on The Way Back Machine because I happened to remember the old urls that I had assigned to TIC, as we called it (of course, it was a take-off and pun on TWIC -- The Week in Chess). But lots of parts were lost forever, including many of the photographs I used as parts of our spoofs.

One of the features of TIC was called "Dead Ringers." Sound familiar? It might because a new television series starring Buffy, the ex-vampire slayer, is now showing on some network or other and I believe it's called "Dead Ringer."

In our TIC Dead Ringers, I would find a photo of a chessplayer and then match him or her with an historical figure or actor/actress or otherwise recognizable personality. I had a lot of fun with that! I remember I matched a photo of Alexei Shirov from when he was very young and very trim and very very handsome, with a photo of a bust of Alexander the Great. It was one of my more successful match-ups!

So, when I was watching another new show a few days ago, Prime Suspect, Maria Bello, the actress and main character of the show, appears on the screen and as I'm watching her I kept thinking OHMYGODDESS, THAT'S 'SIS! I was struck by the resemblance - facially, body type, even how she moves - the nuances of how she holds her head and hands, for instance.
So, I hunted around for a photograph of 'Sis to compare to the actress Maria Bello dressed as her character in the show. Now I've got plenty of photographs of 'Sis, but none had exactly the right angle of face, lighting, hat, no sunglasses - well, you get the picture. This was the best I can do:

Updated Sunday, September 25, 2011:

I think I convinced 'Sis that she and Maria Bello were separated at birth... 'Sis sent me a few photographs taken by Michelle recently. I really want Michelle to take some photographs of me, maybe she can make me look in a photograph the way I think I look. LOL!

Which one is Maria Bello, and which one is Georgia a/k/a Isis? Are you sure?

The weather has been off and on stormy today, and evidently last night too, with parts of the area experiencing driving downpours of rain about 10:30 p.m. It was dry here, no rain overnight, but my friend Ann's place, which is about 3 miles away, got drenched overnight.

Thunder woke me up about 4:30 a.m. but no rain fell until much later. I think it was around 8 a.m. - I was sitting here at the computer looking out the large front window when it started. It's been raining off and on since, although by the time I got home from an outing with Ann around 2:15 it had stopped raining and the sun was out! It's still out, although there are large areas of dark clouds looming in the sky.

Just checked the local news online and saw this photograph and a report that three water spouts were spotted on Lake Michigan! Very unusual, and we had no severe weather over land, no tornado warnings or wind events.

A woman ruler's skeleton—her head mysteriously placed between two bowls—is one of two royal burials recently found at the Maya ruins of Nakum in Guatemala.

The roughly 2,000-year-old tomb was found underneath another, 1,300-year-old tomb filled with treasures such as jade gorgets—normally used to protect the throat—beads, and ceremonial knives.

The upper tomb's corpse had been badly destroyed by rodents within the last few centuries, but the body was clearly that of another Maya ruler—perhaps another female, based on the small size of a ring found in that tomb.

The royal burials are the first discovered in Nakum, once a densely packed Maya center. Study co-author Wiesław Koszkul and colleagues have been investigating Nakum's surroundings, known as the Cultural Triangle, for decades.

"We think this structure was something like a mausoleum for the royal lineage for at least 400 years," said Koszkul, of the Jagiellonian University Institute of Archaeology in Krakow, Poland.

The Maya royal-tomb discoveries are described in the September issue of the journal Antiquity.

—Rachel Kaufman
Published September 22, 2011

Jade Jewelry

Photograph courtesy Robert Słaboński, Nakum Archaeological Project

This jade pectoral, or gorget, was worn as part of a larger necklace across the chest of the ruler buried in the upper tomb.

The glyphs on the gorget are a partial mystery: Simon Martin of the University of Pennsylvania translated the name of the person as Ixim Chan, or "Maize God-Snake." But the jade piece also contains the word "Yaxha," the name of a city 10.5 miles (17 kilometers) south of Nakum.

"We don't know how the pectoral reached Nakum. Maybe one king of Nakum brought the pectoral from Yaxha, or there is the possibility that Nakum was ruled from Yaxha," Koszkul said.

The style of the glyphs is 300 years older than the tomb itself, raising the possibility that the pectoral was kept as a family heirloom for three centuries, he added. [According to the tentative dating of the second, later tomb, that means the pectoral would have been dated to around the time of the older tomb beneath it. And so why do these dudes think this is NOT a family jewel passed down from female ruler to female ruler? Too advant garde a thought, perhaps?]

From Chessdom! World Girls (U-20) Chess Champion Deysi Cori won the parallel Diez Reinas [of the Abierto Internacional Marcel Duchamp], with the same score as her brother 7,5/9. Interview with her and all information of the event in this article (Spanish language).

1

WGM

Cori T Deysi

PER

2416

7.5

2

WIM

Zuriel Marisa

ARG

2214

7

3

Martinez Ayelen

ARG

2085

6

4

WFM

Romero Echeverria Abigail

ECU

2134

4.5

5

WFM

Chang Suzana

BRA

2001

4.5

6

Fernandez Maria Florencia

ARG

2152

4

7

Nejanky Maisa

ARG

2069

3.5

8

WIM

Maggiolo Elisa

ARG

2075

3

9

WFM

Colombo Camila

URU

2111

2.5

10

WFM

Vargas Gabriela

PAR

2076

2.5

Judit Polgar SightingPreviously reported, GM Judit Polgar, GM Gary Kasparov, and other legends of the game of chess rallied together to encourage the EU to adopt a chess in schools program. Here's a photo of the simul at least some (all?) of these august players participated in, from coverage at GM Alexandra Kosteniuk's chess blog. Polgar standing next to Kasparov at the simul. If I'd been her, I would have picked up a knight and shoved it up his nose! Check out the new television show REVENGE. That's what I'd do to him, but then, I'm a bitch, har :)

Vera Menchik, a Chess Goddess, Inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame

Isis and I were there, darlings, on September 8, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, to celebrate the pre-official "opening" of the new headquarters for the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame (relocating from Florida) and the World Chess Hall of Fame. More than 400 other people also RSVP'd to the invitations, overwhelming staff and the available real estate! But a good time was had by all. I actually listened to the presentations rather than socializing and heard Vera Menchik being inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame, along with Boris Gulko and Andy Soltis. Good choices!

SEATTLE -- A Seattle Police detective is making a difference in children's' lives in a way she never thought -- through chess.

Her students call her Detective Cookie, a name she earned years ago for her love of sweets, but Detective Denise Bouldin has figured out the way to teach kids in the Rainier Valley about life through the movements of the pieces on a chess board.

"Chess is like in the real world...you gotta be careful, you gotta think, you gotta make the right decision," she tells fourth graders at Van Asselt Elementary School. "Because if you do something too quickly something could happen, there could be consequences."

This will become a year long relationship of learning. And Detective Cookie gets right down to what's important.

"Maybe somebody wants you to join a gang or maybe somebody wants you to do something that's negative," she says. "Let's put that whole situation on the chess board."
Detective Cookie understands she's not only teaching them a game, she's also giving her perspective and life lessons.

"When I was growing up I did not like the police," she says. "I grew up in Chicago in the projects there was people that was giving back in those kind of ways that kept me off the street."
"It's kind of like this is your family and you have to try to protect them so nothing bad happens to them," says one student of his chess pieces.

Detective Cookie has much more on the horizon this year. She's starting a sudoku club, a knitting class and a book club at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Mangalore: Seven from Derik's Chess School Qualify for National Championships

Mangalore: Seven from Derik's Chess School Qualify for National ChampionshipMedia ReleaseMangalore, Sep 20: Seven students of city's Derik's Chess School have qualified for the National School Chess Championship to be organised by School Games Federation of India from September 25 to 29 at Jabalpur, Madhyapradesh.
Out of the seven, Nihal Manjunath, Vanessa D'Souza, Andria D'Souza, Reesha Shenoy, Pangal Gopalkrishna Nayak and Mahima Khandige are from various schools in the city.

Nihal Manjunath
Nihal Manjunath of St Aloysius P U College, scored 7.5 points in 9 rounds in the State PU Boys Chess selection trials. He won the runner up place and was selected for the Karnataka Under 19 Boys team participating in the National school games.

Vanessa D'Souza

CAI's national women champion Vanessa D'Souza of St Agnes P U College, was initially seeded 5th in the Karnataka state PU Girls Chess selection trials held at Chikmagalur on September 5 and 6. She outwitted her opponents including seeded FIDE rated players with ease to score very impressive 8.5 points in 9 rounds. With this performance she has not only won the title, she will now lead the Karnataka Under 19 girls team in the National School Games. This is the 7th time she is representing Karnataka in the National School Games. She has played major roles in winning medals for the state.

Andria D'Souza

Andria D'Souza of St Agnes Girls High School, scored an unbeaten 8.5 points in 10 rounds to defend her title in the Karnataka State under-14 girls chess selection trials held at Shimoga from September 7-10. She will lead Karnataka under-14 girls team in the national school games for the second consecutive year.

Reesha Shenoy

Reesha Shenoy of St Anne's Primary School, scored 8 points in 10 rounds to win the fourth place in the under-14 girls category and a berth in the state under-14 girls team.

Pangal Gopalkrishna Nayak
Pangal Gopalkrishna Nayak of Canara Urwa High school, scored 8.5 points to secure runner-up place in the under-14 boys category. He will represent Karnataka team for the consecutive second time in the National School Games.

Mahima Khandige

Mahima Khandige of St Agnes Girls High School, scored 8 points in 10 rounds in the under-17 girls selection trials, securing the 5th place and a berth in the Karnataka state under-17 girls team.

Sinchana Gowda

Sinchana Gowda of Jawahar Navodaya, Balehonnur, Chikmagalur district scored 9 points in 9 rounds with easy wins in all the rounds to secure first place in the National Jawahar Navodaya Chess Championship in under-14 girls category held in Chandigarh on September 17 and 18. She will now lead the Jawahar Navodaya team in the National School Games.

From Forbes.com
Associated Press
Top players seek EU support for chess in school
Associated Press, 09.20.11, 12:17 PM EDT
BRUSSELS -- Chess stars Garry Kasparov and Judit Polgar are seeking European Union support to promote the game in schools across the continent.

Former world champion Kasparov said Tuesday he was looking for government support on top of private funding to spread the game across schools in the 27-nation EU. He said it was unclear how many kids were playing chess but said in French schools alone some 300,000 were involved in the game.
Hungary's Polgar said chess cut across languages and cultural divides since the rules were universal and immediately engaged people into social contact.

It was still unclear how the EU could help but Kasparov said he was also looking how to better integrate chess into school curriculums.

Most of us love a good fairytale. And then there’s the tale of Dyhemia Young, a teenager from San Francisco’s Bayview district.

Young was invited to the coveted wild card invitation to the Susan Polgar Girls’ Invitational, a prestigious chess tournament held at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. But there was a problem: Young couldn’t be found. Her home life had been unstable for a couple years, and none of her old numbers or addresses worked. So mentors, teachers, and even the police got involved in the search.
They finally tracked her down at a group home – a foster home – in East Palo Alto, with less than a week to go until the start of the tournament. But there was another problem: Dyhemia couldn’t actually afford to go to the tournament.

Luckily, a story about her on the front page of the LA Timesled to a flood of donations that paved her way to Texas.

It sounds like “happily ever after,” but the tale of the San Francisco Chess Cinderella is actually a lot more complicated. KALW’s Jen Chien has this story.

* * *

SUSAN POLGAR: Don’t make the move – this is the most important part of it – don’t make the move until you see me in front of your board.

JEN CHIEN: Ten girls are sitting in front of 10 chess boards at a long bank of tables. Most of them are under 10 years old, in pigtails and headbands, but at the far end of the tables sits a lone teenager with stylish side-swept bangs. That’s Dyhemia Young.

I’m at the Norcal House of Chess in Fremont, watching a “simul,” or simultaneous exhibition. That means all the girls at the table tonight are playing against one chess star. Tonight, that star is Grandmaster Susan Polgar. Cameras are rolling, taking video that will later be posted on Polgar’s many chess websites and YouTube. Amidst the hoopla, Young sits calmly, waiting to make her first move.

POLGAR: So, what I’m gonna do is, I’m gonna start the first round. I’m gonna start right here with Dyhemia, and then move on...

One of the people wielding a camera tonight is Lisa Suhay, who’s flown in from Virginia to attend the event. Suhay, a children’s book author and youth chess organizer is behind a lot of the online buzz about Young. The two met at a tournament in Texas. Actually Suhay’s the one who contacted the LA Times, which led to Young being splashed across its front page.

LISA SUHAY: I called the editor.

Suhay came up with the “Chess Cinderella” name, and she’s been working it all over the internet. She even calls herself Young’s “Fairy Godmother” in one article. Suhay believes that continued media attention can save Young from getting lost in the system like so many foster kids do.

SUHAY: It’s a big system, it’s a slow-moving system. Even though all of the people care very much, they’re stuck with the system. I think it’s important to keep the spotlight on a positive story and on the fact that when everyone got together and helped this one child, it had this huge positive ripple effect.

Young entered the foster care system two years ago after some serious conflicts with her mom. Since then, she’s been bounced from placement to placement, even spending a short stint in juvenile hall (she disobeyed a court mandate to return to her mom’s house). Playing chess helped her find some stability. Her mentor Adisa Banjoko runs the Hip Hop Chess Federation at John O’Connell High School. He sees the game as a way Young can focus her energy. Even though Young received a scholarship to Texas Tech through Polgar’s tournament, Banjoko is not so sure more media attention is what she needs.

ADISA BANJOKO: A lot of pressure was put on her to try to be this or be that, and everybody was trying to turn her journey into a fairy tale. And her journey is very real, her journey is not over.

Young is currently living at the East Palo Alto Teen Home, awaiting yet another foster home placement. She just started her junior year at a new school, and though she’s working hard, statistics for foster kids like her are not favorable. Nationally, youth in foster care are 44% less likely than their peers to graduate from high school. As they get older, it gets even more daunting. In California, 65% of youth aging out of foster care have no place to live. Young will age out in less than three years – a stark reality compared with the Cinderella story that’s been attached to her.

Sheila George operates the group home where Young currently lives.

SHEILA GEORGE: I don't know about the Cinderella part of this chess, but my main thing now is to get her back on target for school, get her grounded in school, so she can then think.

In the kitchen, an employee is frying chicken and potatoes in a huge cast iron pan to feed the four foster girls who live there. They’re all teenagers. One has a baby.

Young’s mom is there, too – for a visit and a meeting with the social worker, therapist, and attorney on her daughter’s case. She’s uneasy about Young’s newfound fame.

DYHEMIA’S MOTHER: I'm not too sure about the media, I'm not really thrilled about that. ‘Cause I don't want them to pull her in the wrong direction, might pull her in the wrong direction, she might stumble on something. She's only 15.

YOUNG: This is my dresser, got my teddy bear... And I like parrots ‘cause they talk a lot of mess...

At an age when girls need stability, Young doesn’t have much. She tells me when she needed glasses, it took two years to arrange for a prescription. She worries about where she’ll live next month. For the moment, she shares an upstairs bedroom with a girl she’s known only a few months.

YOUNG: This is my drawer, this is where I keep basically all my chess containments. This is my board, my Lubbock bag, my hair product, Chess Master edition...

The room is small but tidy – typical teenage girl: a flat iron near a big mirror. Snacks stashed near the head of her bed. Young also has mementos from the chess tournament up on the walls.

YOUNG: She got her side with her decorations, my side with my decorations, my newspapers, the signs, "Welcome Dyhemia Young, we support you” – I got that from when I was on my way to Texas, when I got off the plane. I had three posters, people was giving me flowers, posters, taking pictures with me I’m so famous!

For a child who can feel forgotten, it’s kind of a dream come true. Still, with so many people focusing their attention on her, Young says it’s hard not to feel the pressure.

YOUNG: It’s pressure to be the person that I want to be, pressure to have my little sister look up to me and be the person that she wants me to be, and then it’s pressure just to be in the system and have them on my back, and be the person that they want me to be. I’m like: Can I just be myself?

BANJOKO: If she can finish high school, I think she can go out and be a really devastating person at whatever she chooses. But the real tragedy, and we have to be honest about this, is that if she does not graduate, if her household is not made more stable, she absolutely could be another statistic. And that’s my fear, that all of this hype, and all of these gifts are just gonna end up with her being incarcerated, or worse, and I don’t want that for her, I don’t want that for her at all.

Young has her own thoughts as to what kind of ending – fairytale or not – her story should have.

YOUNG: I more identify with the “diamond in the rough” more than the Cinderella story. I mean, some people may look at my story and think, “Well, she is kind of a Cinderella.” No people, that’s just my name, that is not what I am, that is not who I am. I am a diamond in the rough.

CHIEN: Why is that more accurate?

YOUNG: Because a diamond has to be pressure put on, and you have to mold it and shape it and shine it to get it to be a diamond. And I’m still going through my pressure and molding and you know, all the shining and stuff. Probably my shining will be more in my college years... But no, I’m going through all of that to become that diamond and when I become that diamond y’all, I will be one of the top lawyers, one of the best judges, or even on the Supreme Court. Y’all going see me again, don’t worry.

Back in Fremont, at the Norcal House of Chess, the simul is about to begin.

In chess, every move opens up new opportunities and obstacles. The best players look far ahead in the game, considering all of their possibilities. Young has made it this far. She eyes the board intently. Her hand inches slowly toward a chess piece and hovers above it for a moment…

Club location: Hales Corners Village Hall/Police
Station, located at 5635 South New Berlin Road, Hales Corners, Wisconsin, in the
downstairs Community Room. Club open at 6 PM, Tournament Games at 7 PM.___________________________________________________________________________________________

And don't forget the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XIV on October 22, 2011! Paid entry for last year's female winners of the Open and Reserve sections. Goddesschess prizes for females in the Open: $40 per win and $20 per draw. Female winners of the Open and Reserve will receive paid entry for the next Hales Corners Chess Challege should they should to play.

Recent archaeological investigations have
uncovered a number of prehistoric sites and artefacts, including rock art and
engravings at Laje da Churra in the Serra de Santa Luzia near Viana do Castelo
in northern Portugal.

An archaeologist working for ENARDAS, which
is coordinating the project, told Lusa News Agency that the flat stone
discovered around 40 years ago in Carreço parish, is today one of the most
important artefacts with engravings.

“We are talking about a flat stone, from which our
investigation has identified 1,200 engraving motifs, when initially only around
10 were identified. And the stone is broken, which gives us an idea of the size
it could have been in pre-history,” said Ana Bettencourt.

She estimates that the site where the stone was discovered
could have been used as a sacred place from as early as 3,000 or 4,000 B.C.

“We don’t know exactly when the place became sacred or
symbolic, for people. But it was used by various communities until the Iron
Age,” she said.

Aside from the flat stone and engravings of horses, weapons and
boats have also been unearthed at the site.

Laje da Churra is one of 10 sites of interest that have been
identified since May by archaeologists working in the Serra de Santa Luzia on a
project promoted by specialists from Minho University due to last until 2013.

The aim of this project is to study pre-historic remains from
between 5,000 and 1,000 BC “making an inventory and studying” places with burial
rock art and metal deposits.

A Bulgarian archeological team discovered unique ornaments from the chariot of a wealthy Thracian woman, which are in the form of eagle heads. Photo by 24 Chassa.

The archeological team, led by Daniela Agre, has discovered a treasure during digs at a Thracian mound near the southern village of Borisovo, in the vicinity of the town of Elhovo.

The precious items were placed in the tomb of a wealthy Thracian woman and are from the end of the 1st – beginning of the 2nd century AD, the Bulgarian 24 Chassa (24 Hours) daily.

They include a set of luxury bronze dishes, a large round plate and a caldron, all decorated with ivy leaves. There is also a vessel, looking like a small bucket with a lid, which the archeologists say has no analogue in finds in Bulgaria, and a bronze box for toiletries with incrusted bronze busts of satyrs.

The team, however, is the most enthusiastic about another discovery, according to 24 Chassa – a set of ornaments from the chariot of the buried woman. Illegal treasure hunters have dug and nearly destroyed the chariot, but were unable to find the ornaments, which had, actually, been their goal.

"This happened because before the funeral the ornaments had been removed and hidden. The ancient people obviously knew that even then the tombs faced the danger of being robbed. This is why we have this precious find today," Agre is quoted saying.
.
The ornaments include four eagles whose wings transform into dragon heads.

Near the tomb, the team also found a large square table where the Thracians placed food for the deceased as part of the burial ceremony – Agre says this is also an exceptional discovery because it is evidence this had been a tomb from Roman Thrace.

In 2008, the same team discovered in the southeastern village of Borilovo, in the Strandzha Mountain, an early Thracian tomb from the 4th century B.C., evaluated as an unheard of for this period expensive structure.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Miscellaneous photos of our St. Louis experience. The dinner party photos were taken by Georgia (Isis) on Saturday evening, September 10, 2011:

Our beautiful dessert! The salad was delicious, the entre' of chicken breast and salmon was so-so -
my chicken was very overdone, I could not even cut it! I gave up and concentrated on the salmon,
which was delicious. There were also asparagus spears perfectly done (el dente) and some sort of
vegetable something-or-other - I didn't know what it contained so I did not venture a taste! That's
me, though. I'm very conservative in my food tastes. The dessert tasted as good as it looks! All
in all, a very well done meal, and it was impeccably served by the wait staff.

Former CCI President Tommy Thomsen addresses the dinner party.

Me, enjoying dessert! Were my eyes closed because I was saying a silent prayer to the Goddess?

Some of our table mates at the CCI dinner party the evening of September 10, 2011:
Jon Crumiller (closest right) and Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Pohl. We had a great time
at dinner. It was serendipity that landed us at this particular table, we had fascinating table mates!

This charming gentleman was photographed on Friday, September 9, 2011, when 'Sis and I were
walking back from the opening of the World Chess Hall of Fame/Museum. He was impeccably dressed and
reminded me instantly of the great dressers who are photographed in New York forAdvanced Style, a very popular blog. We asked if we could take his photo for our blog and he agreed.
He is in his 70's and teaches ballroom dancing part-time. He charmed me right to my toes - you can see part of my floaty
top in the right lower corner of the photo. He was a flirt! I'd have married him if he had asked.

Our Commitment to Chess

Scholarships for Chess Femmes

Our Commitment to Chess

2012 Goddesschess Canadian Women's Closed Chess Championship

2014 SPONSORSHIPS

Hales Corners Chess Challenge XIXApril 12, 2014Milwaukee, WIPrizes for female players in Open and Reserve sections and paid entry to next HCCC for top female finisher in each section. This is Goddesschess' 12th HCCC!

Goddesschess Fighting Spirit Award

2013 U.S. Women's Chess Championship

2013 SPONSORSHIPS

Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVIIIOctober 12, 2013Milwaukee, WIRecord prize money awarded to chess femmes - $800!In honor of National Chess Day and the one year anniversary of the passing of our webmaster, researcher and writer, Don McLean, additional prizes of $150 were awarded to the top two male finishers in each Section.Milwaukee Summer Challenge IIJune 15 - 16, 2013Milwaukee, WIPrizes for the chess femmes and funding a best game prize

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"Advanced Chess" Leon 2002

About Me

I'm one of the founders of Goddesschess, which went online May 6, 1999. I earned an under-graduate degree in history and economics going to college part-time nights, weekends and summer school while working full-time, and went on to earn a post-graduate degree (J.D.) I love the challenge of research, and spend my spare time reading and writing about my favorite subjects, travelling and working in my gardens. My family and my friends are most important in my life. For the second half of my life, I'm focusing on "doable" things to help local chess initiatives, starting in my own home town. And I'm experiencing a sort of personal "Renaissance" that is leaving me rather breathless...